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Marie Claire
Marie Claire
Lifestyle
Amy Mackelden

Staff Disliked Ex-Prince Andrew as a Child for Allegedly Kicking "Helpless Guardsmen" and "Taunting" Dogs and Horses, so They "Shoveled Manure Over Him"

Ex-Prince Andrew as a child fires a bow and arrow inside Windsor Castle in 1969.

The former Prince Andrew has officially been demoted by the Royal Family and will no longer use any of his royal titles, including the Duke of York. Now known as Andrew Mountbatten Windsor, The King's brother is set to leave Royal Lodge for a home on the Sandringham estate. Former staff have also been reflecting on the way Andrew allegedly behaved as a child, and the consequences he faced for doing so.

Writing for The Sun, royal expert and author Ingrid Seward wrote of Andrew, "When he was five, he made his way to the bottom yard of the Royal Mews at Windsor while his father Prince Philip was out carriage driving."

Seward continued, "The grooms didn't like having him around because they had seen him taunting the dogs and aiming sly kicks at helpless guardsmen." The final straw allegedly came when a young Andrew "started taking a swipe at the legs of the horses."

Prince Andrew at Buckingham Palace in July 1968. (Image credit: Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)

The staff allegedly decided to take revenge on Andrew, so "they picked up the protesting prince, tossed him onto the dung heap, and shoveled manure over him," Seward wrote.

Unsurprisingly, the 5-year-old royal wasn't exactly pleased by their actions. As the royal expert explained, "When the impact of his humiliation hit him, he yelled and ran up the hill to the castle shouting, 'I'll tell my mommy! I'll tell my mommy on you!'"

Prince Andrew photographed in 1968. (Image credit: Daily Mirror /Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix via Getty Images)

According to Seward, it remains unclear whether the former Prince Andrew ever actually told Queen Elizabeth II what had happened to him. However, the staff apparently faced "no repercussions" following the incident. "And he seemed to learn nothing from being dumped in a pile of manure," the author alleged.

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